Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-04-02
County Superintendent Report of
Schools in Berkeley County.

der the supervision oil Board OF
Education, that has charge of the
educational interests of the district.
The School law (Sec. 54) provides
that the county superintendent
shall visit each school within his
county once in each school year. In
complying with this requirement,the
superintendent performs no small
amount of hard labor. and is compel
led to undergo exposure in the most
unpleasant weather of the year. La
the piercing winds of winter, through
snow and sleet, rain and mud, over
roads which are almost impossible.
he must plod from school to school.
If he were not animated by the
cheering thought of receiving, at the
end of the year, that lin the opinion
of some) large salary, 5000, by which
he will be enabled to procure so
many comforts and so much pleas
ure for himself and his family, how
could he endure it all? / have WIS.,
tied few of the schools twice. Most
Of the teachers appear to be alive to
the Importance of the work they are
engaged in, and are using their best
energies to advance their schools.
From inability TO govern and for
want of experience on the part of
some of our young teachers their
schools were not in as good condi-
ton as / hoped to find them. A few
schools in which good teachers are
employed are not doing well, on &C
count of contending factions. They
did not all get the teachers they
wanted, consequently, the disap-
pointed ones do not patronize the
school. We have in the county 81
schools, employing 65 teachers, forty
of whom are males, and twenty-one
females. At the time / visited the
schools | found the enrolment to be
2,45S with an average daily attend
ance of LIS. The entire enumera-
of the county is 3,764. As it will be
seen, by the figures above. only two
thirds of the youths of school age
have entered our schools this term.
and less than half OF them are in
school regularly. This is great
defect, so alarming that it calls for
the earnest thought and united effort
of teachers, patrons, school officers
and taxpayers to devise and put in
operation remedy. Let us all who
are interested in the education of
the young, and this includes every
citizen of the county, look aroun1
us and try to discover the cause of
this irregularity and attendance
l attribute it partly toimproper loca
ton and an insufficient number of
school houses. Some of the sub-dis-
tricts have nearly hundred chill
dren enumerated, but on account of
the school house being located
at one side of the district, many of
them attend school but few days
in term, and some of them never
enter school. One of the obstacles
to better results in our schools is the
lack Of interest on the part of the
parents. Many take too little part
in the education Of their children.
They seem to feel that the response
bility rests alone with the teacher,
that they have nothing to do bat to
send their children to school a few
days in term, frequently without
the necessary books, and the teach
er must educate them, or he or she
must be discharged and branded
''Good for nothing" They will then
declare the free schools nuisance.
Teachers are only helpers in the
work Of education. They need the
sympathy, confidence and co-opera-
of parents. Parents have preroga-
tives and responsibilities in the edu
cation oftheir children which cannot
be delegated, and teachers realize
this fat and act upon it. Visits
made to our schools by parents and
school officers are entirely too unfre-
quent. Trustees are bound by law
and their official oaths, to visit the
school within two weeks after the
opening, and again within two weeks
before the close thereof, and at such
other times as in thei. opinion may
be useful to do so, yet the majority
of schools in this county have not
received an official visit from the
trustees this term. In some of the
schools | met commissioners, trus-
tees and parents, who showed their
interest by their presence and by an
appreciation of the work being done.
The need of systematic course of
study and plan of work for the
schools of the whole county, as evil
denced by the great difference in the
advancement of schools in the same